Crown restoration is pruning conducted on topped or damaged trees over time. Topping is perhaps the most harmful tree pruning practice known. Yet, despite more than 25 years of literature and seminars explaining its harmful effects, topping remains a common practice.

Topping can lead to unacceptable risk. New sprouts readily grow to replace lost foliage. Sprouts provide the means to restore energy reserves in the living wood inside the tree and to grow a new crown. However, sprouts can become weakly attached and can break if not managed correctly. Crown restoration pruning helps prevent this by guiding growth and selectively pruning sprouts and branches to produce structurally strong architecture.

Pruning a tree is not the same as “cutting limbs”.  An educated, experienced tree pruner only removes limbs for specific reasons.  Some reasons to prune a tree might include dead limbs, broken limbs, crossing/interfering limbs, or limbs that are encroaching on structures or wires.  Most trees do not need to be “shaped”, or cut to a symmetrical shape.  Tree “topping” is an antiquated practice, that involves tree cutting the canopy back to a small size, and forcing the tree to re-sprout to survive, and is generally a bad idea.   Deciding which limbs to prune off is only half the battle.  It is very important that each limb is pruned at the appropriate place, with the appropriate tool, using the right technique, and at the proper time of year.  An ISA Certified Arborist has been trained in pruning trees the right way, and All About Trees has Certified Arborists on the crews, actually doing the work.

All About Trees is a locally owned, full-service tree care company in Springfield MO serving a 20-mile radius around the Springfield area.  We offer many services, including tree pruning and trimming, tree removal, planting, stump grinding, cabling and bracing, shrub trimming, and consultation.

Our owner, Noel Boyer, is an ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) Board Certified Master Arborist, the highest credential awarded to a tree care specialist. Noel calls himself “the tree hugging owner” of All About Trees because he loves your trees as much as you do.  Noel is also a tree climbing champion, winning the Midwestern Tree Climbing Championship 7 times!

All About Trees is a different kind of tree service.  We prune to ANSI A300 pruning standards, and our crews are run by ISA Certified Arborists.  We spend a lot of time and money on education and training for our crew, so we can stay at the leading edge of today’s standards for caring for your valuable trees.  Our uniformed crews are completely covered by property damage and liability insurance, as well as worker’s compensation to protect our customers from potential liabilities or litigation.  Our office is staffed by helpful and friendly managers ready to assist in scheduling your estimates and tree work.

All About Trees is caring for Springfield’s urban forest, one tree at a time.